1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game apparatus, a game system, and a storing medium storing a game program. More specifically, the present invention relates to a game apparatus, a game system, and a storing medium storing a game program in which a plurality of players participate and play a game on a game screen displayed on a common display, and the game screen is divided into a plurality of areas for each player in correspondence with the number of the players.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One example of a kind of conventional game apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2001-70647 (hereinafter referred to as a prior art 1). In an amusement apparatus of the prior art 1, in a battle-type shooting game, a screen is divided into two portions, that is, upper and lower portions, and in each of the upper and lower areas, characters of each player are arranged in a divided manner. Furthermore, by interchanging the areas in which the players' own characters are displayed by each turn, a fairness of a playing condition is provided, for example.
Furthermore, although not related to a game that a plurality of players participate and play (multiplayer-type game), an example of an art, which is related to a desktop game in which one player and a computer compete with each other, and a display screen is divided into a plurality of areas and displayed, is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2002-28369 (hereinafter referred to as a prior art 2). In a three-dimensional display apparatus of the desktop game of the prior art 2, in a Mahjong (a popular Chinese tile game) game, for example, ordinary tiles (tiles distributed among players) and discarded tiles (discarded tiles, not used any more) of the player are displayed in different areas. In addition, by arbitrarily setting a ratio, a visual range, and a viewing angle between each area, and displaying each area, it becomes easy to see. This enables game play to have an actual battling sensation.
In the prior art 1, a size of the divided areas is fixed, and the areas in which each player character is displayed are interchanged. That is, the divided areas are not changed depending on a superiority or inferiority of the play content of each player. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to comprehend the superiority or inferiority of each player, and, therefore, the game is not as fun as it otherwise could be.
It is noted that in the prior art 2, although the ratio of each area is arbitrarily set by the player for the sake of easy viewing by a single player, the prior art 2 is not intended for the multiplayer-type game. Therefore, there is the same problem as in the prior art 1 in that the game is not changed depending on the superiority or inferiority of the play content of each player.